Customer Reviews

Being There (Widescreen)

5 star:		(98)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My wife and I tend to quote lines from this wonderful movie, much like I do on the golf course with Caddy Shack lines. As Caddy Shack is to golf, Being There is to life: a delightful comedy but with meaning.

I discovered this film only 7 years ago when I caught the Peter Sellers Bug after watching "The Party".

This film is easily one of the best films to ever hit the silver screen. It will move you in such a way that you will be left speachless and quiet for a couple of hours after it's done. The film is loaded with wonderful hidden themes and messages that really cause the viewer to question the world around them in a very good a positive way.

The writing and producing is top notch, and in my opinion simply "Brilliant."

Peter Sellers character is that of Chauncey(Chance)Gardiner. He is an innocently reclusive individual who has spent his entire life confined to the inside of one single house without any knowledge of the outside world or that it even exists. Being raised since birth by the "old man" and the household Maid, His duties are to simply take care of the garden in the back yard and do some light cleaning duties around the house. When the old man suddenly dies and the deed of the house is taken by a law firm, Chauncey finds himself alone with nothing more than several TV sets that are spread out in various parts of the house.

He is soon forced to leave the safe and familiar confines of this house and venture out into the world. Armed only with a TV remote control Chauncey steps out of the front door of the house for the very first time in his life to discover a very real and different world than the one he has only seen on television sets. This sequence is set brilliantly without any spoken word to a Disco/funk version of 2010 a space odyssey by Brazillian musician Deodato.

Chauncey eventually makes his way to a department store window that is selling TV sets where he uses his remote control to change the channels and watch TV (this is the only thing that makes him feel safe in this strange and new world he has ventured into). It is here that the story takes off when by accident he meets the wife of Ailing Billionaire Benjamin Rand who takes him back to her Mansion.

Once he arrives at the mansion is where the Acting Genius of Peter Sellers really takes hold of the viewer and you get drawn right into the wonderfuly brilliant world of Chauncey Gardiner. His character throughout the film simply represents innocence in its purest form, and as the film progresses you develop a deep respect and understanding of him. The film depicts how corrupt and greedy the heart of man is, and yet it shows how an innocent and sinless man (Chauncey Gardiner) can deliver mankind out of the darkness and back into the light.

The final scene in the movie will leave you speachless. As the screen goes black you litteraly sit there in awe of what you just witnessed. This film no doubt is one of the best films to EVER be be created. 5 STARS and 2 Big Thumbs Up! The final scene actually sent shivers up my spine the first time I saw it and gave me goose bumps....But in a very positive way.

Peter Sellers gives the best performance of his entire career in this masterpiece called "Being There"

Sellers plays a man who is a complete blank, seemingly mentally handicapped, having spent his whole life working as a
gardener, his only real enjoyment being watching TV. Through a wonderfully creative series of coincidences, he soon has
Washington's elite read into his simplistic pronouncements whatever they want to hear, and the next thing you know he's
an advisor to the President, and winning over TV audiences.

This could have been a one-joke film, but the terrific writing and directing, and the simply magical performance by Peter Sellers
make this deep, complex, and moving. There's great supporting work too by Shirley McLain and Melvyn Douglas. Jack Warden
overdoes the doofus bit a little as the US president, and there are a couple of moments where the jokes feel forced, but this
is as funny and socially incisive a US film as has been made in the last 30 years.

This film is like none I have ever seen before. In the past, when I thought of Peter Sellers (who plays lead character "Chance the Gardener"), my mind automatically went to Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther series. I thought of the bumbling, clumsy and silly detective in hot persuit of the pink panther jewel. What a terrific change of pace! I really got a sense of Peter Sellers' depth as an actor in this brilliant film. Sellers, Melvyn Douglas, and Shirley Maclaine were all strong leads in this story, along with a great supporting cast.

BEING THERE tells the story of Chance, the Gardener, a simple man who spends his entire life gardening in the backyard of his boss' house, until one day the old man passes away. When a couple of journalists come around to find out more about the former master of the house, Chance is the only one there. The house must close, and for the first time the man must make strides into the big, wide world. This world is like nothing he could have ever imagined outside of the house where he worked. One thing that keeps him tranquil and holds his attention is the television. As Chance says, "I like to watch." (this line is misinterpreted a few times during the course of the movie.) By chance, Chance meets up with Shirley Maclaine the wife of an elderly billionaire. This is just the beginning of an intriguing series of events where Chance--renamed Chauncey Gardner--the simple man who speaks of plants and their growth (the only real knowledge he has about the world) becomes central as wise sage in one of the most intriguing political ventures.

This film has moments of laugh-out-loud comedy, and serious elements as well. (The final scene is chilling.....that is all I am going to say......)
Check it out if you are in the mood for something completely different. In the words of Chauncy, this is definitely a film "I like to watch."

This is one of my favorite movies. I first saw it in the movies years ago. It''s one of those movies you can pick up and watch over and over again. In this era of special effects overkill its great to see a movie that is well written with great charactars.Peter Sellers is great. Shirley MacLain and Jack Warden are also great. As a matter of fact, this movie has no bad performances.
Buy it, you'll like it.

This is both a political satire and a contemporary fable such as Hans Christian Andersen might have written had he lived in the 1970s. It shares much in common with "The Emperor's New Clothes" (1837), except there is no Honest Boy to point out that Chauncy Gardner is not whom he is assumed to be. Actually, Jerzy Kosinski wrote the novel on which this film is based and it was skillfully directed by Hal Ashby. The acting throughout the cast is outstanding. Douglas received an Academy Award for best actor in a supporting role, Sellers a nomination for best actor in a leading role. MacLaine is also terrific. Obviously, Eve is devoted to her husband as well as very fond of him but starved for attention and affection when Chauncy appears in her life. She is attracted to him just as everyone else is. (I have already noted that this is a fable.) I should point out, now, that at no time and in no way does Chauncy consciously and deliberately attempt to deceive anyone. Yes, he really is THAT dim. If contrasted with him, Forrest Gump would seem like Gore Vidal. Credit Ashby and Sellers for establishing and then sustaining precisely the right tone. The satire has an edge throughout the film but is nicely balanced with gentle humor and tender moments. As someone immortal once said, "All's well that ends well." Indeed, I cannot imagine a more appropriate final scene for Being There.

This film should be required viewing for everyone in this year of presidential politics. There is an eerie similarity between Chauncey and our illustrious president. A hollow man, just a shell, in whom everyone he comes in contact with sees what he wants to see. A perfect metaphor for our time. A frightening metaphor for our time. One has to wonder if Lincoln was right in saying that you can't fool all of the people all of the time.

SHIRLEY MACLAINE IS ALWAYS WONDERFUL TO WATCH.PETER SELLERS IS ALWAYS FUNNY TO WATCH.THIS IS A FILM YOU MUST SEE EVEN ITS NOT A MOVIE TO OWN IN YOUR LIBRARY AND WATCH IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.

I was BLOWN AWAY when I first saw this movie. This movie is the best movie I've ever seen that I've never heard of before watching. I guess it had a buzz in 1979 when it came out.

Chance (Chauncy), the protagonist, is a functioning retard. His understanding of the world is completely based on television. He is thrown into a world of high class Washington d.c. elites after his previous master dies. As the court jester, dandies seek his company and he comes across as remarkably insightful. It would be like Ronald Reagan making presidential decisions based on the advice he received from fortune tellers.

The humor is dry, super subtle but almost slapstick in an intellectual way. I've laughed heartily every time I've ever seen this movie.

With amazing foresight, Peter Sellers captures the essence of Bill Clintons's rise to ascendency through the Arkansas governership to the Presidency. The potrayal of the simple-minded but likeable Chauncy Gardner reminds us that being at the right place at the right time, backed by gobs of Chinese and Soros money, can result in the snookering of an entire nation.